Personalia
[pur-sə-NEY-lee-ə]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: North America, mid-19th century
1.
All the personal belongings, writings, and information of an individual.
Examples of Personalia in a sentence
"The Edgar Allan Poe House contains much of his personalia."
"Robert had to make many treks back to his childhood home to collect all of his personalia."
About Personalia
Personalia developed from the classical Latin word "personālia" ("personal"); however, its first use in this definition's context was found in the magazine "The North American Review" in the mid-19th century.
Did you Know?
Pop artist Andy Warhol was obsessed with keeping all the miscellaneous objects of his life. He kept "time capsules" filled with notes, receipts, letters, toys, coins — anything and everything. These collections of personalia can be seen on display at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
